Helping Billy

I have a friend, many of you know her, Lori Bartlett, who is a good person. She is a dispatcher at the Bar Harbor Police and Fire Department, she raises money for Dana Farber running in the Boston Marathon. When she speaks.. I listen. So Friday night, she wrote a post in Bar Harbor Barter and Swap about Billy. I asked her to send me more information, because in this day and age, we need to help Billy. It's the right thing to do.

Here's Lori's story as told to me about Billy

I have casually known Billy (I don’t know his last name) for several years. He has worked at Mainway for several years and has just added his second job at Hannaford the last year or so. I would see him working the overnight shift at Mainway on Cottage Street in Bar Harbor when I would get off of work at the PD. I would sometimes have to get gas and would see him dead tired from how much he works. Then I started seeing him at Hannaford during the day. I wondered when he slept!

THEN….. about a year ago, I started seeing him riding his bike on the Crooked Road late at night coming into town when I got off of work at the PD. The kid doesn’t sleep! He bikes to and from work every day. He has worn that bike out! No matter what the weather is, he is on that bike. I asked him what he was going to do come winter, he said…”ride my bike.” He said he has lost a lot of weight, which I can certainly tell, from having to ride it and he says it makes him feel good. He is a very quiet kinda guy. Never complains.

I have been curious so I have asked him questions. Quite frankly, I feel badly seeing him out there riding it at night, in the cold and wet weather. But he doesn’t complain. He is very visible and obeying the laws of biking at night. He has reflective clothing on and a flashing light on the back of his bike and a headlight on the front.

The other evening, it was raining hard out and it was about 35 degrees, he was headed into town on the Crooked Road., (it was around 11pm). He was headed up a hill into Hulls Cove walking his bike . When I saw him again (at Hannaford), I asked him if his bike was heavy because it looked it. He said it sure was. That he would like a newer bike, one that was lighter. He said he has been going into Bar Harbor Bike Shop to see what he could save up for and talked to Joe. He said that they have showed him a few bikes, used Hybrids, and ones that were much lighter. He said Joe told him he would be able to zip around town and go to and from work.

Joe confirmed that Billy’s bike was definitely heavy and he would benefit from a newer bike. Also said that Bar Harbor Bike would help contribute to Billy getting a newer one. If I could buy Billy a bike I would. Then I thought…what can I do. I thought of Bar Harbor Barter and Swap and the amazing people that use its services and the kindness that has been shown there. Then I thought, why not put out a plea to help Billy. So I did. I love this island and its people."

That's Lori's story. So what can you do? If you want you can make a contribution to Billy's bike. You can send it to the Bar Harbor Police Department, 37 Firefly Lane Bar Harbor Maine 04609. You can drop it off there and let them know it's for Billy's bike. You can drop off a contribution at Bar Harbor Bike Shop. Any extra money will go to Billy to make his life a little better.

Mainers take care of Mainers. It's what makes this state so great. If you can't help Billy help someone else. We all need a little help.